Commission kicks off Swedish Presidency with Internet chat
At the meeting of the Swedish government and members of the European Commission on 10 January, several Commissioners took the opportunity to reply to questions posted on the Swedish Presidency's official website. Questioned by CORDIS News on how EU-funded research would help in the development of the three main priorities of the Swedish Presidency (enlargement, employment and the environment) Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin replied by giving a concrete example of where research had been key in environmental improvement - measuring the ozone layer. 'At the European level we set up a programme called Theseo including 300 European researchers devoted to analysing and organising studies on the ozone layer. This takes place in the Arctic region. Last year I visited the facility in Kiruna during the winter when measurements took place. We thus take part in international research together with NASA and others at the same level as NASA.' Mr Busquin also responded to questions on education, where he stated that the Commission was aware of the need to get more young people showing an interest in science and technology, food safety, where he recognised that further food research is required, as well as being able to validate the same tests throughout Europe, and the standardisation of Commission websites, where he answered a question concerning the divergent structure of the websites of the Commission's various DGs by saying that DG Research's website information is mainly geared towards research programmes. Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for Enterprise and Information society, also responded to some questions posted. Responding to a question about the progress of the '.eu' top level domain name, Mr Liikanen responded: 'Thank you very much for a very important question...the proposal is now in the Council and in European Parliament. I discussed this today here in Stockholm and the Swedish Presidency promised to do its utmost to get it through soon.' Finally, as both a European Commissioner and as a Nordic citizen, Mr Liikanen also responded to a question asking whether all Commissioners would be adopting a 'Nordic emphasis' under the new Swedish Presidency, such as 'an enhanced right, not to say obligation, to freedom of speech among EU functionaries and a stronger environmental profile for the Union?' Mr Liikanen responded: 'The right to express opinions is an important part of the reform process. The environment and sustainability in general are important priorities in the Commission and for the Swedish Presidency.
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